Here's How To Land A Meeting With Anyone
"Time is the new money - no one can afford to give it away carelessly these days," writes Dorie Clark, a marketing strategist who teaches at Duke's Fuqua School of Business, in a blog post for the Harvard Business Review. Even asking for a mere 10 minutes needs to be planned and calculated, she says.
In the post, Clark shares her tried-and-true strategies for landing meetings with important people. Here are her top three:
Give them a reason.
Everyone's insanely busy, especially important, powerful people. While some may wish they could meet with everyone who contacts them, it's just not possible, so you need to show why you'd be worth their time. "Make clear the value proposition of getting to know you," Clark says. "Otherwise, it's far too easy for them to underestimate you and assume you don't have anything to offer."
Whether you can offer "good press" or teach them how to optimize their business, you need to show them exactly why they can't miss an opportunity to meet with you in your initial contact.
Start small.
It's not enough to simply pique someone's interest - you need to pitch a meeting that's easy to fit into their schedule. While it might not seem like much to ask for one lunch or an hour out of someone's day, those seemingly small chunks of time can quickly add up, especially for professionals who receive 20 to 50 similar requests each week, Clark warns.
Instead of lunch, ask to grab coffee. Or, rather than asking to meet up in person, promise to fit everything into a 10-minute phone call. If they like you or your idea, they'll be more likely to offer more of their time, Clark says.
Find a connection.
Once you've made contact with an important person, get on their level. "The challenge is to break through and ensure they view you as a colleague - someone 'like them' - rather than a stranger impinging on their time," Clark says. Scour Facebook and LinkedIn for mutual friends and connections, anything to give you a starting point to build your relationship. Powerful people are much more likely to want to meet if they know someone who can vouch for you.
Click here to read the full HBR post.
Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to tipoftheday@businessinsider.com. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- BenQ Zowie XL2546X review – Monitor for the serious gamers
- 9 health benefits of drinking sugarcane juice in summer
- 10 benefits of incorporating almond oil into your daily diet
- From heart health to detoxification: 10 reasons to eat beetroot
- Why did a NASA spacecraft suddenly start talking gibberish after more than 45 years of operation? What fixed it?
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market